As
a result of the deadly and catastrophic events occurring in Louisiana
and Mississippi, this appears to be a good time to look at what steps
were taken by the Homeland Security Department prior to Hurricane
Katrina.

The
events of September 11, 2001, resulted in a greater focus on the role
of first responders in carrying out the nation's emergency management
efforts. The Department of Homeland Security is the primary federal
entity responsible for ensuring that first responders, such as police,
fire, emergency medical and public health personnel, have the capabilities
needed to provide a coordinated, comprehensive response to any large-scale
crisis.

In
the last 4 years DHS has awarded $11.3 billion to state and local
governments to enhance capabilities, primarily to prevent, prepare
for, respond to and recover from acts of terrorism. Presidential directives
instruct DHS to develop a national all-hazards approach--preparing
all sectors of society for any emergency event including terrorist
attacks and natural or man-made disasters.

DHS
has undertaken three major policy initiatives aimed at creating a
national, all-hazards coordinated and comprehensive response to large-scale
incidents: (1) a national response plan (what needs to be done); (2)
a command and management process (how it needs to be done); and (3)
a national preparedness goal (how well it should be done). The US
Congress' General Accounting Office reviewed these policy initiatives
and determined that each supports a national, all-hazards approach.

DHS
has also developed plans to implement three related programs to enhance
first responder capabilities: (1) to assess and report on the status
of first responders' capabilities; (2) to prioritize national resource
investments; and (3) to establish a national training and exercise
program.

Implementing
these programs will likely pose a number of challenges for DHS including
integrating internal and external assessment approaches, assessing
state and local risks in a national context to effectively prioritize
investments, and establishing common training requirements for each
first-responder discipline.

Because
terrorist attacks share some common characteristics with natural and
accidental disasters, 30 of DHS' 36 capabilities first responders
need to support preparedness and response efforts are similar. GAO's
analysis found that the baseline capabilities required for terrorist
attacks and natural or accidental disasters are more similar for response
and recovery and differ most for prevention.

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Since
terrorist attacks are planned, intentional acts, all of DHS' prevention
capabilities focus on terrorist attacks, while almost all other baseline
capabilities focus on all hazards. Legislation and presidential directives
call for DHS to place special emphasis on preparedness for terrorism
and DHS has directed that the majority of first responder grant funding
be used to enhance first responder capabilities to prevent, protect
against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks. Nonetheless,
grant funds can have all-hazards applications.

Sources:

US
Department of Homeland Security,
General Accounting Office,
National Security Institute,
National Association of Chiefs of Police

Jim Kouri, CPP
is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs
of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington
Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the
1980s. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police
and security officers throughout the country.

He writes for
many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times,
The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared
as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including
Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book
Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and
can be ordered at local bookstores.